Grub Boot Error

digitaleagle Troubleshooting, Ubuntu, Uncategorized 1 Comment

If you have any suggestions, please post a comment!

I have an old computer with an Abit VP6 motherboard.  I attempted to install Xubuntu 8.10 on it, but it does not want to boot.  It stops at “grub loading stage 1.5”.

I initially thought it had to do with the fact that I installed an SATA controller and started using an SATA drive as my OS drive (the only drive in the system because my IDE drive failed).  I thought that maybe the BIOS did not support booting off the drive, but it is at least getting to grub.  I don’t have grub installed on anything else that is bootable when the CD is not in the drive.

I have tried reinstalling Grub using these instructions, but that did not help.

Update: I installed Xubuntu 8.04 on the same machine, and installs and boots with no problem.  (My wireless card doesn’t work and the video driver needs work.)  So, I am pretty sure this isn’t a hardware issue.

Update: I posted a question to the forum here.

Sprinkler Project

digitaleagle Uncategorized 2 Comments

We are planning to put some sprinklers in, and I wanted to try to use my computer as the controller rather than buy one.  But, I need some help.  Please comment if you have any expertise in this area or any tips.

This article is very similar to what I want to do:

Acacia Projects — Sprinkler Controller

First of all, I am not exactly sure how the “24 VAC Plug Pack” comes into play.  I am assuming that the valve needs more power than what the card produces, and the plug pack gives it that boost, but where do you purchase one?  I am assuming that you need one for each station.

I think I found where they were talking about buying the board from: Elexol.com

One of the problems that I might have is that my computer is on the opposite side of the house from where I might want to place the valves.  I thought about using Ethernet to get the signal closer to the valves and place the card nearer to the valves.  This product looked helpful:

Ether I/O 24R

I found a couple of other examples, but they didn’t have quite enough detail for me:

Embedded Linux Router Hacked for Sprinkler Controller

This link does seem to have more detail:

Sprinkler control with embedded…

They mention using the USB Bit Whacker board.  I think I found where I could buy it: SparkFun Electronics.

Skype Problems on Ubuntu 8.10

digitaleagle Uncategorized 2 Comments

I have been having trouble getting Skype to work.  If anyone has any ideas, please post a comment.  I at least have it working, but the microphone is quiet.  Also, at this point, I only get output on the left speaker.

One thing that helped was going into the System > Preferences > Sessions and changing the Skype command from “skype” to “padsp skype”.

Here are some articles that I have looked at and tried:

Installing Office 2007 on Ubuntu

digitaleagle How To, Microsoft Office, Open Office, Uncategorized, Windows, Wine Leave a comment

Here is a little script that I put together that installs Office 2007 for me.

Now, this script makes the following assumptions:

  • I already have a directory created called wine in my home directory.
  • I want Office installed in a separate directory/wineprefix
  • I have the Office CD mounted already at /media/cdrom0
  • I have winetricks in my path (which winetricks = /usr/local/bin/winetricks)

Also, just for information, here is my setup

  • Ubuntu 8.10
  • Wine version 1.1.16
  • I believe I installed Wine with apt-get using the repository at http://wine.budgetdedicated.com/apt
export WINEPREFIX=$HOME/wine/office2007

mkdir $WINEPREFIX
winetricks msxml3 dotnet20 gdiplus riched20 riched30 vcrun2005sp1 allfonts ie6
winetricks vista
wine /media/cdrom0/setup.exe
winetricks winxp

I hope it helps.

Linux Evaluation

digitaleagle Great Links, Ubuntu, Uncategorized Leave a comment

Just recently, I came across a very interesting evaluation of Ubuntu from a Mac User’s perspective:

Two Days Without Mac OS X Leopard: Ubuntu 8.10 Review

One of the most interesting things is how a supposed Linux newbie can point out applications that I hadn’t heard of even though I have been working with Linux for quite some time.  I don’t if that is a mark against me or if there is something to be said for fresh perspectives.

I noticed the part about Quicksilver, but Gnome-Do was not mentioned until the comments.  Should Gnome-Do be installed by defaults or should the settings have something there that would install it when enabled?

The fonts was interesting, and I went through the tutorial that he mentioned.

Also, the mumbles was interesting.  I am giving that one a try too.

I have noticed issues with the sound, and it is nice to know that I am not the only one having those issues.  I thought maybe it was the hardware on my PC.

My GPS Works!

digitaleagle gpsd, Ubuntu, Uncategorized 1 Comment

I had trouble with my DeLorme GPS a while back.  This new version of Ubuntu (or the kernel) fixes it.

I installed Ubuntu 8.10 just recently and I was able to get my GPS to work.  All I did was install gpsd with apt-get.

Here is the output from dmesg:

[39636.625066] usb 4-2: new full speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 2
[39636.806942] usb 4-2: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
[39637.437849] usbcore: registered new interface driver usbserial
[39637.437876] usbserial: USB Serial support registered for generic
[39637.437912] usbcore: registered new interface driver usbserial_generic
[39637.437915] usbserial: USB Serial Driver core
[39637.452600] usbserial: USB Serial support registered for DeLorme Earthmate USB
[39637.452622] usbserial: USB Serial support registered for HID->COM RS232 Adapter
[39637.452637] usbserial: USB Serial support registered for Nokia CA-42 V2 Adapter
[39637.452670] cypress 4-2:1.0: DeLorme Earthmate USB converter detected
[39637.454432] usb 4-2: DeLorme Earthmate USB converter now attached to ttyUSB0
[39637.454461] usbcore: registered new interface driver cypress
[39637.454464] cypress_m8: Cypress USB to Serial Driver v1.09
[39637.486314] usbcore: registered new interface driver hiddev
[39637.487441] usbcore: registered new interface driver usbhid
[39637.488536] usbhid: v2.6:USB HID core driver

Partitioning in Ubuntu Installs

digitaleagle Great Links, Install Help, Interesting Articles, Ubuntu, Uncategorized 2 Comments

I just read a good tip about partitioning for Ubuntu.

They suggest using GParted Live to partition the hard drive first.  That sounds great!

I miss the option that Fedora has where you can delete all the Linux partitions and have it automatically create the new partitions.  I don’t remember the options for sure, but I think you can only delete all the partitions or shrink the existing partitions.  If I am reinstalling, I want it to leave my Windows partition alone and delete the Linux ones.  Another great option would be to manually pick the partitions to delete and use the freed space to automatically create the partitions.  Finally, another option that would be nice is to choose how much it shrinks the existing partitions.